Starbucks's CEO earned 6,666 times the median worker's pay in 2024. CEOs of the 100 S&P 500 firms with the lowest median wages now earn 632 times their median employees on average. CEO pay for that group rose nearly 35 percent since 2019 while median worker pay failed to keep pace with U.S. inflation. Between 2019 and 2024 those firms spent a combined $644 billion on stock buybacks, a practice that inflates stock value and CEO compensation. Every dollar spent on buybacks represents a dollar not spent on workers, widening wealth gaps at low-wage corporations.
Starbucks is the worst offender, but jaw-dropping gaps are the norm among America's leading low-wage corporations. CEOs of the 100 S&P 500 firms with the lowest median wages - a group I call the "Low-Wage 100" - have enjoyed skyrocketing pay over the past six years. As a group, these CEOs now earn 632 times more than their median employees, I found in a new report for the Institute for Policy Studies.
Between 2019 and 2024, these firms spent a combined $644 billion on stock buybacks. This once-illegal financial maneuver artificially inflates the value of a company's stock - and with it, CEO pay. Even the most inept executives can rake in vast fortunes through this scam. Every dollar spent on buybacks represents a dollar not spent on workers.
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